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Homeopathy has been in the press a lot lately with claims that homeopathic medicines are only a placebo and that any improvement in health resulting from homeopathic treatment is due to the placebo effect. What this kind of opinion ignores is that homeopathy can treat animals as successfully as it treats human (see some of the articles from “Homeopathy at Wellie Level” (http://www.hawl.co.uk/homoeopathic-articles/) and farm animals in a herd are not known to respond to the placebo effect.

Why homeopathy can be the target of such claims is the fact that the starting point of any homeopathic treatment is a pill and pills are associated with conventional remedies. There is a huge difference however between the pills from the pharmaceutical companies which are laced with chemicals, and homeopathic pills which are sugar pills coated with a natural substance. This substance carries a healing energy which, as soon as it touches the mucous membrane of the mouth, triggers a reaction in the patient. It is this reaction that will bring about a cure or an improvement.

The benefit for us homeopaths is that our treatment comes in the simple form of a pill and members of the general public consulting a homeopath for treatment feel comfortable taking a pill as it is very much like taking a prescription medicine from their GP. They do not need to know that homeopathy is an energy medicine and they will get better just the same.

The drawback of this form of healing, however, is that it is open to sceptics trying to discredit it by likening homeopathic treatment to placebo because the homeopathic pills have no discernable chemical compounds in them… A bit like a chemist analysing a CD and deciding it is just a bit of plastic but missing out completely that in the right circumstances, this CD can play wonderful music.

The best way to observe homeopathy's effectiveness is to use homeopathic remedies to treat minor ailments. Children in particular, because of their strong vitality, can respond extremely well and fast to homeopathic treatment. Anyone can self treat using homeopathic pills. Anyone should take an Arnica pill after a fall or an accident, Nux Vomica to prevent hangover or indigestion after a heavy meal, Ignatia when grieving the loss of someone dear.

Vinciane Ollington (www.completehomeopathy.co.uk) has been a Professional Homeopath since 2002. She practices from Ripley and is married with 3 children. In addition to seeing patients, she teaches how to self-prescribe homeopathic remedies for acute ailments. She also runs regular seminars for those interested in homeopathy and who want to know more about certain conditions and their treatments.

When I was a child I accidentally discovered a way to contemplate infinity using only two mirrors, one handheld and one on the wall.

I was wondering what would happen if I looked at a mirror reflected in another mirror. I played around and then suddenly there was a moment when an endless tunnel of reflected mirrors opened up, a window into infinity.

In my excitement, I took my father's tripod and mounted the handheld mirror onto it, trying to make it as still as possible to make the tunnel as deep as possible.

As the chain of reflections fused into a dark vanishing point in the "distance", I felt that this dark point was a piece of the same infinity that I saw when I looked at sky at night.

I repeated this experiment often. It became one of the visual meditations that I loved then and still love to this day, like staring into an open fire, star gazing, watching the sun set, waves rolling onto the shore, snow flakes floating to the ground.

Later, when I started to meditate, I found the same sense of infinity behind closed eyelids in an inner space that deepened and expanded with time.

Go and explore this inner space in yourself, have glimpses of your own infinity! Unlike the virtual space between facing mirrors, your inner space is full of life, light and spirit.

Michael Kaufmann is a Meditation Teacher, a Master & Teacher of Reiki Healing, a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Time Line Therapy™ and an Ericksonian Hypnotherapist with many years of clinical experience. He has practices in the City of London and in Canterbury, Kent. He can be reached via www.reiki-meditation.co.uk.

If you’ve not had a course of reflexology treatments you’d be forgiven for thinking that it is simply a relaxing foot massage. Of course it is a relaxing foot massage, but it is also much, much more than that. It is a therapy which can have a profound influence on your health and well-being, both physical and emotional.

Reflexology is based on a system of reflex points, or areas, on the feet which correspond with the organs and systems in your body. These reflex points are a map, if you like, to the rest of your body. A trained reflexologist will work over each of these reflex areas using different techniques – thumb walking, pinpointing, flexing, massaging – to stimulate the area. Their sensitive fingers will pick up subtle differences in the reflex areas and they may linger over a spot where they detect an imbalance. And all of this is done whilst you just sit back and relax, enjoying the sensations.

After a single session, some customers will feel deeply relaxed, will probably sleep better and feel calmer for a few days. Some will feel energised and raring to go, as if their batteries have been recharged.

But it’s with the regular sessions that I have seen real improvements in the well-being of people. My customers find that it helps them in many ways:

Managing and easing the pain of their arthritis*

To reduce feelings of anxiety and has helped rebuild confidence

They are less troubled by insomnia

As a nurturing, supportive, calming therapy, it is helping a customer who is grieving after their spouse passed away

Feelings of stress were lowered and my customer become pregnant when she had previously found it difficult to conceive

Feel calmer and healthier

One customer is eating more healthily, her periods are starting to return and she is hopeful that she will be pregnant soon

Stress-related digestive problems disappeared when she was having regular sessions

A busy business women found she did her most creative during treatments, enabling her to grow her business

However, you don’t need to have a particular condition to enjoy the benefits of reflexology. Regular treatments will help you relax, improve mood, help sleep, relieve tension and improve a sense of well-being. Reflexology is a gentle, deeply relaxing and non-invasive therapy and is suitable for people of all ages. And it is important that we look after ourselves – if we don’t then how can we look after others?

Please note that reflexology cannot cure or diagnose anything, and it should not be used instead of conventional health care – always consult your GP or health professional for medical attention or advice.

*Reflexology is not suitable if you have arthritis in your feet or ankles.

About Julia McPherson

Julia is a complementary therapist, specialising in reflexology to help people find balance and wellbeing. She offers a home visiting service for people in and around Sunbury on Thames, Walton on Thames, Hersham, Weybridge and Cobham.

The Bowen Technique is a complementary therapy that works over muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons, nerves and the skeleton to accelerate healing, realign and balance the body. It has an excellent track record in helping relieve many symptoms. Results can be remarkable, even from the first session.

How does it work?

Gentle, powerful moves send messages deep into the body, penetrating to a cellular level to realign and balance the body. Pauses allow the body time to respond to the work, begin the healing process and re-orient to a previously healthy state. Bowen moves treat the body as a whole or can target a specific problem. A Bowen treatment will enhance and complement other medical treatments, and conditions other than those being treated are often resolved, whether structural, physiological or emotional.

What’s it like?

Each Bowen therapy session varies according to the particular problems of the client. By focusing on the lower and mid back and legs, the upper back, shoulders and the neck, a sense of wellbeing can be achieved, helping relaxation, aiding sleep – helping to remove everyday stress and anxiety that can make us feel under-par or prevent us functioning at our optimum. The Bowen moves are light and very precise. Its effects go on working for days following treatment and can be long lasting. For this reason it is better to wait a week either side of having other manual therapy. The moves may be given through light clothing or on the skin and can assist recovery from many conditions from traumatic injury to chronic illness, depending on each individual’s capacity to heal. It is considered suitable for everyone from pregnant women to new-born babies, the frail and the elderly. People are amazed at the sensations and results.